Business Directories

Damas extends payment date for founders

Dubai, April 4, 2011

Jeweller Damas International said on Monday that it has extended the payment date for 400 million dirhams ($108.9 million) owed by its founders, the Abdullah brothers, by a month.

The Dubai-based jeweller said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai that the agreement that expired on March 31 was extended until April 30.

The statement said the Cascade agreement, that provides the legal framework for liquidation of the assets of the Abdullah Brothers Group, has yet to be finalised as all parties did not sign the agreement.

'Not all parties have signed the Cascade Agreement .... the Cascade Agreement will be signed by all remaining parties in the near future,' the company said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai.

The jeweller said last week that it reached a final agreement with all its lenders and completed the restructuring of its $872 million debt.

Damas has been in talks with banks to restructure its debt. The 25 banks involved in the restructuring include Barclays and BNP Paribas.

An inquiry last year showed that the Abdullah brothers owed the company a total of 614 million dirhams ($167.2 million), that included 256 million dirhams worth of gold that the three brothers had withdrawn from the company. -Reuters